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<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=1>Human Rights
Reader 143<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT
size=3>POWER MAKES EVEN THE UGLIEST LOOK
HANDSOME.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=5><STRONG> </STRONG><FONT
size=3>
</FONT></FONT></o:p><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">It is necessary from the
very nature of </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> things
that power should be a check to </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> power.
(Montesquieu)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=5> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p></o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>1. Let’s face it: The majority of laws in a
country are passed more as a transaction of power than as a matter of
regulation. (P. Simonetti)</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>2. Policy dialogues never occur in a power vacuum; strategic interests
shape the contributions of the participants to such dialogues. </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>3. Therefore, scaling up such dialogues politically means moving towards
empowerment of claim holders (CHs) so that tangible, progressive changes in the
socio-political environment can occur. (Remember that equity, in health for
instance, can only be achieved by unequal treatment; it requires
disproportionate attention to and investment in vulnerable groups). (U.
Jonsson)<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Ergo, fairness and equity
require empowerment.</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>4. [This, because the already powerful always want more. (Is that what
eventually sinks them? Or, as somebody asked: Does this mean we need to save
Capitalism from the capitalists?)].</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>5. Because what never stops occurring are the consequences of one’s
acting <U>non</U>-politically, we cannot but act politically. Inaction is also
an action --perhaps the most dangerous one... For instance, what do we
objectively do to counter the politization of the mainstream means of
communication by the powers-that-be to avoid the pluralistic and democratic use
of the media? Are the consequences not grim?</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>6. In other words, what I am saying is that one cannot be an idealist
without political convictions…that ultimately lead to action. Moreover, when
acting politically, timing counts; it is more, being effective at it is knowing
to assess the right time to act. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>6. [We are not here talking about petty politicking; that is what
manipulative politicians often do to hide what they are, what they stand for and
what they ignore…their vanity devours their intelligence. Such politicians are
condemned to become dinosaurs content with aging in the museums of the history
of politics. (As Stendhal said: What an immense difficulty this hypocrisy of
every instant)]. </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>7. In politics, one may pretend --true. But keep in mind that,
conversely, big business (and sometimes government) is often openly brutal and
cynic --e.g., is it not obscene that world business leaders voted poverty
reduction as the number one priority for global action in the recent World
Economic Forum in Davos?</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=1>Claudio Schuftan, <?xml:namespace prefix =
st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ho Chi Minh
City</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><A
href="mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=1>claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=1><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=1><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Mostly adapted from F+D
(IMF), Vol. 42, No.4, Dec. 2005; SCN News (UN Standing Committee on Nutrition),
No.30, mid 2005; and </SPAN><SPAN lang=PT-BR
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: PT-BR">Carlos Fuentes, La Silla del
Aguila, Santillana Ediciones, Madrid, 2005.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN lang=PT-BR
style="mso-ansi-language: PT-BR"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>